Dark Warmth
by phz
Summary: Living up on top of snowy mountain bound to have some side effects. Will Green take this chance to mend the relationship with his childhood friend while taking care of him? Originalshipping. GameVerse.


The cold morning air was what the dark haired champion accustomed to when he woke every day. Along with his little yellow friend's movement who would perch onto his lap during the night. In addition, maybe the sound of distant calling of flying Pokémon from a far could be heard. All in all it was a peaceful environment that the strongest trainer liked to appreciate. However, the usual routine was broken off with a head start of dull pain from his crimson eyes.

Brushing off the unknown pain away, the lithe teen stood up from his place of rest. Vaguely remember that today was the day that his childhood friend would visit, just for that reason, Red would stop training for today and spend some time with all his teammates. It had been a while since the last time they all had a break from the battling against the extreme climate. Caressing all the red and white capsules by his belt, the raven released all his battle companions out for the fresh air they deserve.

Strangely, his partners just stared at him with concerned expression on their face unlike the usual excited battle cry or roar. Misinterpreting for their concern because of missing another day of battle, the young Pallet trainer laughed and shooed them off to enjoy their day off. The only Pokémon who did not leave his side was Pikachu. The electric mouse cried softly by his feet, tugging the worn jeans with his tiny hands. Bending down to the snow ridden ground, Red looked at Pikachu.

"Is something wrong, Pika? Don't you want to join them too?"

The Kanto trainer received a few licks to his eye from his treasured friend. Blinking from the sudden warm wetness, the youth rubbed his eyes with his wrist band to remove the moisture away. To his surprise, the black elastic were damper than he was expecting. Touching his eyes gingerly with his palm for another time, he was finally aware that his eyes were tearing up. That must be why his Pokémon were acting weird right after they materialized from their respective pokeball.

"Thank you. I'm fine."

Smiling warmly to his first Pokémon, Red urged the yellow mouse to go play with the other. It was after all a rare brief holiday for all of them. He would not want them to worry about him anymore than they were needed. Once the yellow blur was far enough from his sight, Red leaned his back against the nearest tree he could find and collapsed against it. Maybe he was too tired and did not even notice his own fatigue aside from his companions'.

Everything would be fine after a small nap. The teen thought silently. Hoping the cold would numb away the sharp headache he was currently having.

xxx

Trekking up against six inches of snow was not something the sunny brown haired Viridian Gym Leader would do for a hobby. Green was all geared up in winter coat from head to top, with Eevee latching onto his neck for extra heat. The brunet nudged the equally brown creature affectionately with appreciation. Even after all the nagging Green had done, the fox Pokémon was stubborn and stood her ground against going back to her pokeball.

"Wanna bet if that idiot still dresses for summer instead of this damn cold?"

The former champion chuckled and his Eevee purred in agreement at his bet. Both of them already know how persistent a certain lone trainer was. No matter how many clothes Green have forcefully tried to put on Red, the latter would wear them at first. However they would be piled up in his little cavern and never see the light again.

In few more steps, Green would reach the summit and put down the heavy sack that he was carrying all the way. Sighing in relief of the good weather, the gym leader sprinted his way to the cave, eager to drop off the heavy baggage. At the same time, the brown haired gym leader was worried of his longtime friend. Being foretold of the idiot's condition from the nurse Joy was not something he expected when Green decided to visit after a while.

Red must have left already hence the empty cold cave. Thought the trainer silently, might as well go out and find him just to ease his distressed heart. What could have gone wrong during the week he was absence. The suspense was eating his psyche the longer he searched for the midnight haired teen. The thousand possibilities of what if popped onto the former champion's head, allowing Green to hasten his pace on the snow covered ground. Shielding his eyes from the slowly but hailing snow, Green spotted -_finally, a color that is not white!_ - fromfew feet ahead.

"One.. Two… that's six of them. But where's he?"

Strolling towards the group of large and tiny Pokémon, much to his surprise and amusement, they were playing with snow. It was not an everyday thing to see the strongest team of Pokémon acting just like their pre evolve form having fun. Laughing lightly at all the giants enjoying their time, Green petted each of their head gently.

"So where's your trainer gone to?" After few seconds of blank look, all six of the magical creature searched frantically around the icy habitat. Pikachu was literally running at full speed with quick attack. It was in Green's instinct to follow the yellow mouse, since if any of them could find Red it would be the agile mouse first. A sharp cry from Pikachu alarmed him as he rushed to the source of panic.

"Red!"

Green softly nudged his unmoving childhood friend. The raven groaned slightly from the action, as if moving was causing a lot of pain. Sighing from relief that his friend was not dead, he told Pikachu to go back and gather everyone. Moving the other tenderly on his back, he hoisted Red back to his camp. "I'm not sure if I should be happy or worried over this, idiot."

Tracking the footsteps he made slowly on the fresh white snow, Green headed back to where the legendary trainer's second home.

xxx

After finally convincing all of Red's Pokemon sans Pikachu to return to their respective capsule and promising he would take good care of their trainer, the young gym leader let out a puff of breath. Seeing how each of the different type creatures could be more of a mother hen that would rival the trainer's own mother.

Red was now resting on the fluffy bed that consisted of pillows that Green had brought over the time he visited. The quiet champion woke up once before, but it was short as he went back to the dream world soon after.

Letting the other slept for a while more as the brown haired trainer check for any injuries or illness on Red. Finding nothing out of the ordinary, pulling the sleeping body up right against his own body for support, Green shook the sleep out of his friend. "Wake up Red. Don't sleep in this kind of climate." The former champion reprimanded softly, waiting for Red to response to his call.

Red opened his eyes abruptly when shook, crunching his teeth together from groaning at the pain his own eyes brought him. Looking aroundto search for the one who disrupt his sleep with glassy eyes, blur mixture of brown, green and peach met his sight. Blinking away the watery tear back from his eyes, he saw the person who he was waiting for today. "Green."

Sighing irritably at the greeting, Green pulled the other to face him, noting the slight redness and swell of the idiot's unfocused eyes. Raising his hand with one finger up, he asked the other sternly how many was the other seeing. "Red, answer me honestly what are you seeing here."

Silent was the answer, Green was not fazed by this, it was normal. Well, normal in a sense that Red would glare at him instead of answering. What worried the brown hair leader was the red eyed champion was not glaring at him but Red was keeping Green's hand still with his own cold ones. Two strained eyes staring intensely at the object of the topic.

"Red. You're not fine, let's go find out what's wrong with you." Lowering the hand, Green pulled the other to stand as his released his flying Pokemon out of the small circular device. Giving the other no chance of protesting as Pidgeot dived down in high speed as soon as both trainers safely seated behind his back. Green had Red with his bag securely within his arms as his only bird Pokemon swayed to avoid the rough snowy whirlwind.

As soon as they have landed, Red was flinching from the all too sudden bright light than he was used to. Staggering on his feet while Green was leading them into the nearest clinic he could find in Viridian. The visit was fast as the mediocre sized clinic was empty save for the usual elderly who came for a routine checkup.

The doctor, who looked around mid-forties, glanced at both children in front of him with disapproving look. No matter how famous both of them were, they were still children in front of the seasoned veteran. Checking over the patient's eyes once again, noting down the symptoms as the gym leader informed him what he knew before their arrival. Clearing his throat, the elderly doctor told Red to take it easy before he relayed the conclusion.

"He has the symptoms of Photokeratitis, or also known as snow blindness." The nurse who went away a while ago returned with medication and a strip of thick black blindfold. The man took the blindfold from the nurse and placed it securely onto Red, who was by now fidgeting uncomfortably. "I presume you will be taking care of him?" A nod from the brown haired boy and the older male placed the prescription and instruction in his hands. "Follow that and he will be fine after a few weeks. It's a miracle itself, the degree of his symptoms is not serious."

The journey back to Green's apartment was a tensed one, Green having a lot to say to his childhood friend but not know where to start. Red was now trying to blend into his shadow with every step he took led by Green. The gym leader stopped by his gym on the way to hang out a closing sign. Hoping no dream inspired young trainer would visit for a while.

xxx

While Pikachu and Eevee were cuddling on the sofa in his living room, Green was checking to see if Red's emotional condition had settled down. Without the glorious ruby orbs to tell him of Red's feeling, he had no choice but to do it the normal way. Placing a glass of water on the dining table, he squeezed his friend's shoulder in a comforting manner. "Are you thirsty? Here."

The hold on the glass cup was shaky but it was firm. With this, Green knew that Red had calmed down from the shock somehow. As soon as the glass was emptied, the ex-champion took at glass away for wash andordered Red to just relax. Reading the instruction given by the doctor again, he only needed to apply the medicated eye drop to Red's eyes nightly.

With his sight incapacitated, the raven trainer grunted irritably and reached around for his pokeball. Find the correct one with just the feeling of touch, he released the creature inside. A purple feline emerged from the bright shine, mewing softly for command. Nuzzling his favorite trainer's hand when the psychic Pokemon sensed distress, Espeon read the emotion that lingered and guided his master with his forked tail. Red nodded gratefully and took the soft tail as his guide. Standing up, the chair made noise as Red left from where he sat.

Green turned around in time to witness the interaction between the trainer and Pokemon, looking at the psychic evolution of Eevee guiding his master around. Thinking that it had been a while since he last saw Espeon, Red must have switched his party with the seventh companion again. Watching Red moved away, he followed just in case. Espeon cried and looked at Green as his paw scratched the door lightly, trying to tell he wanted out. "Red, it's almost dark soon, I'm making dinner, please stay inside."

The silent champion did not respond but moved to the living room with Espeon's guide. Feeling both short furs with slight static and long silky ones, he knew both Pikachu and Eevee had decided to make his lap their nest. Resting his naked head on the couch, with his hat long stuffed in his bag, a nap was all he could do in his state of health now. The purple Pokemon agreed with a soft mew and lay down by his master's leg.

Green smiled at the serene scene, even with an illness that almost take away his everything, Red could still find peace within the Pokemon he trusted and loved. Knowing no danger would befall them at the moment, the young leader dialed a number with his Pokegear, informing his only sister that he would have to postpone their tea party later into the future. And not forgetting to inform a certain raven's condition to her.

"Can you inform Aunt Hanako about Red and tell her not to worry since I will be watching him full time?" Green frowned when the other side of the line teased his little brother to spill the beans already. Ignoring the last comment, Green said his farewell and hang up. Knowing the consequences of hanging up on his sister, the teen shrugged and continue on with dinner.

xxx

Dinner was _pleasant_, with Red's coordination off, Green offered to help the other. But Red was being really stubborn about it, refusing any help if he could. But that was soon resolved when the blinded boy almost tipped the bowl of soup all over himself. Green reasoned and won, although Red was reluctant. He knew the other was glaring at him through the blindfold; he could only chuckled and do his job caring for the other.

While Red's current guide was efficient, there was just so much a Pokemon could do. Green stepped in and told the feline to rest after Red entered the single bathroom in the apartment. "Let me at least help you with this Red," Green spoke softly and striped Red down to his only his boxers. Green scared that he might cross the line if he removed that, the taller teen left it as it was. Handing Red a small towel to cover himself when he remove the last article away by himself, Green could not help but stare a little as his childhood friend stood in front of him in nothing but a damn towel. Pushing bubbling emotion deep down inside his heart, he moved closer to Red.

"Close your eyes," Green reached behind the soft black locks and untied the blindfold, "Doc said you can't expose your eyes to any light. So don't open them." Placing the contraption onto the cabinet for dry keeping, he too removed his clothes while not worried of Red peeking at all. But Green put on a towel just for the other's sake. "I will wash your hair while you take the rest, 'kay?" When Red nodded, the taller male took and shower head and showered themselves with water from bottom to top, not to surprised Red from the sudden splash of water.

Shower ended with Green trying very hard to suppress the beast inside him for taking advantage of Red right there. Breathing deeply to calm himself, he pulled one of his old t-shirt down onto Red. The temporary caretaker distracted himself with thoughts of the annoying brat Gold while he helped Red with his undergarment and shorts. Thoughts of Daisy's teasing remarks crossed his mind and Green slapped himself mentally to recompose himself. The slacking gym leader dressed up quickly and led the other to his bedroom.

Making sure that Red was comfortable in his bed, Green left him alone to recollect the eye drop from its confinement. Making sure and double checked that the door had been locked, he eyed and pile of 3 Pokemon sleeping together on the couch before going back to Red. Eyeing the curled body on his bed, Green frowned, carefully position himself next to the occupant on the bed, the brown haired trainer pull his friend into his arm, hugging the shuddering form that was Red. Caressing the other's black hair, he whispered softly, "I'm here Red, don't worry. It's scary, I know. I felt horrible when the doc told us about this. But," Green bumped his forehead against the other in reassurance, "No matter what happened to you, I won't abandon you. I promise."

The famous Oak grandson blushed lightly while wondering if that could be considered a confession of love. But he meant what he said. That was the important part. Smiling to himself for the accomplishment, Green kissed Red's forehead out of nowhere and hugged to other to sleep and the silent teen relaxed into the embrace to welcome the world where sandman was.

Green was chewed by three furious Pokemon the next day when he forgotten to apply the eye drop on Red, who had a slight amusing grin on his face.

xxx

Weeks went by and Red's condition was getting better. His mom called almost every day much to Green's annoyance after Daisy had informed the news to her neighbor regarding her son. Not having a Pokegear of his own, Green left his to Red so that he could enjoy some peace without always being moving around to get the gear. Most of the calls were from Red's mom and, unfortunately, Daisy.

Green gave up trying to stop Daisy from calling and just cursed his sister for whatever nonsense she was spouting to Red, hoping that none of it was his crush on the raven champion. He had no way of knowing since Red did not said anything in reply, just listening to whatever the voice on other side had to say. Green betted on his dead Raticate's grave that Daisy had already dropping hints of his crush to Red and he will have his revenge, one day or today. The youngest Oak smirked triumphantly when he ratted his sister out for secretly meeting with Bill when grandpa was not around.

They were heading to Pallet Town for a for a weekend visit. Red's Pokemon were sent to Oak's ranch days after Red stayed in Green's apartment, having not enough room for such big giants to roam around, Red agreed to the short period of separation. The blinded teen was having his last checkup with the doctor the day after so that he would be deemed healed enough to see again.

Both Pallet born trainers landed back on their hometown after a leisure flight from Green's trusty pilot. Petting the ruffled feathers shortly before returning Pidgeot for well-deserved rest, Green led Red by the hand while both their companion close on their heel. Red's Pokemon were already waiting by the fencing when they saw the two approaching. Green raised his eyebrow at the ice path that Lapras was gliding on, probably created by using ice beam.

"Now you guys take care of your master while I head inside to speak with gramps."

Green was leaving when he felt a tug. Looking down at Red's pale fingers clutching onto his jacket, he smiled and enveloped his own around the other. "Well, I guess we can go together if you want." Green would not deny the fact they have gotten closer during the weeks together. Red had opened up to him again and depended willingly on him unlike the first few days. One would mistake them for a couple, however, much to the disappointment of Daisy and another pesky girl who joined her sister in the middle of the week, Green had not fessed up yet.

Ignoring the giggles coming from his sister across the hall, Professor Oak greeted the Kanto Champion, and asked the champion regarding his health, and even worried if Green had been troubling him at all. The said teen snorted at the accusation while Red smiled politely to the older man. Seeing no such problem, the famous researcher thanked Red for keeping his battle companions at his ranch, although somehow his starter Pokemon for new trainers had learned powerful move they were not supposed to. Glad to see both his protégés fine the professor shooed them out of the research lab.

Both teens separated right after Green accompanied Red back to his home _–"Oh my, such a gentleman," smiled Red's mom-_ before he returned back to his own. He swore secretly that Red's mom was probably heavily influenced by Daisy.

Inside the household that held both only mother and her child, Red was enjoying the warmth of his home that he had not felt in a long while. His mother was drying his hair with a towel, face a little pink from slight discomfort of having his mother helped him around the bathroom. "You're still my baby no matter how much you have grown, Red." She kissed his son affectionately on the forehead, "And you're comfortable with Green helping you?" The elder woman teased his only son lovingly before giving Red a new set of travel clothes. It was similar to his old one with slight differences that she knew her son would love.(1)

While in another house Green was given prep talk on love and sex. The young gym leader groaned from Daisy's bluntness.

xxx

After the checkup, Red's doctor had congratulated him on a full recovery and warned him not to attempt anything stupid again, whilethreatening the Pokemon Champion he might not be that lucky next time.

Without heeding to the doctor's advice, Red was up and packed back to the source of his blindness. Green was not pleased the least when his crush decided to kill himself again. Knowing that Red would leave regardless of what he said, Green had to think of something to stop the idiot before he gotten blind for real.

No matter what he came up with, it was not enough. Sighing in defeat, knowing nothing would be able to stop the hermit from getting back to his nest on top of a snowy mountain. His patience was thinning and he soon found that if he could not stop Red now, he would not be able to, ever, in the future. Would he have a happily ever after like the stories he heard from Red's mom when they were still a child?

Only one way to find out.

Embracing the lithe back from behind, Green locked his arms around Red, preventing him from packing his bag. Leaning his head against the bony shoulder of his, Green threw away his man pride –whatever left of it anyway- and conveyed his inner most feeling, his deepest secret for his lifelong crush. "Hey Red, do you remember the time we played Pokemon Castle?"

Red nodded as fond memories of their late childhood flown out from the depth of the memory lane, wherea smaller version of them sitting on the only playground. Green was anintolerable brat but he played with the raven haired boy. Green was retelling a story he heard from his sister and wanted to act on it. As arrogant as he was, Green proclaimed himself the knight in shining armor while Red the princess in distress. The brown haired boy might have gotten some fact wrong but the other boy only went along with it since it seemed fun.

Both of them ended up covered in dirt and grass from the pretend play. Little Green proudly pulled his little princess along, kicking the small rock monster they built with piles of different sizes rock whilst shouting promise of love and marriage nonsense he heard from Daisy with his squeaky voice from adrenaline. All the while he was holding and grinning back to Red.

"I would like to keep that promise I made to you. No matter how stupid and childish it was, would you allow me to, Princess?"

xxx

Green sighed deeply while leaning himself against the forest tree of Viridian Forest. The shady and cool atmosphere was calming with the sound of insert Pokemon calling randomly. The slacking Gym leader was gazing onto a small part of the sky that was not blocked by the dense forest trees. If any trainers walked by Green and saw him, they would only have one thing in their bewildered mind, _what kind of thing would make the strongest Gym Leader __of Kanto__ into that pile of depressing mess?_

One, two, three… Soon days accumulated to become one week. It has been a week since he confessed to Red, and in response Green had only received a small smile from his childhood friend before the midnight haired boy flew off with Charizard in haste. _Was that a rejection?_ The brown haired ex-champion sighed to himself again. Bringing forward his communication device, he found Red's number in his list. The Viridian Gym Leader bought the other a Pokegear during the second week of house arrest, from his own expenses of course. However, Green did not even called once. Green feared that the Kanto Champion would give him the final and absolute rejection if he called. The Pokegear slipped away from his hand and dropped onto the grassy land near him with a thud.

Leaf took up the responsibility to find Red since someone was too much of a Pidgey to do so. The Pallet girl spoke to Nurse Joy from the Pokemon Center by the foot of the mountain when she could not find any living soul on the snowy peak. The nurse told her that Red did come to heal his pokemon but it was rare. In the end, Lance was the one who told Leaf of Red's plan. The young champion had texted the Dragon Master to text him back if anyone defeated him. No matter how bitter that sounded like, the grumbling dragon trainer did as he was requested.

Red's whereabouts was unknown, but Green was glad that the idiot was not trying to kill his eyesight again. When Green was about to take a nap, light small footstep and rustling of grass were heard, followed by a stomping that sounded like coming from a Tauros. Looking at the source, the first was his cute little partner Eevee while the stomping came from fuming Leaf. Green grimaced and thought of what he did again to piss off the roaming trainer with a sun hat, besides not running the gym.

"What the hell are you still doing here, Green?"

The lazing teen looked at the red tinted face with confusion and soon a letter was smacked onto his face. Taking the letter off his face, Green read then slowly while being pulled by Leaf onto her flying Pokemon, a majestic Aerodactyl. The prehistoric Pokemon growled lowly when the ancient dragon was materialized from Leaf's Pokeball. Reading on the fly was a little difficult but Green could make up something about a tournament in another region and he was invited. Oh yes, he remembered this letter but he forgotten about it soon after he nonchalantly piled them on his desk along other documents. The female trainer decided to take the time to reprimand the other teen.

"How can you forget about this? Good thing I checked through your letters!"

The brunette frowned slightly from having his belonging tempered, but Green ignored the fact that Leaf broke into his apartment again and grunted. "It's probably another one of those charity tournaments," the male trainer shrugged and waited for the rock type to land on Vermilion City port. "I don't see the point in going." Petting the brown fox who was comfortably curling around his neck, Green went onboard the ship that was headed to destination the letter mentioned anyway. The region of Unova.

To his misfortune, their trip to the industrial focused region was a disastrous. Leaf, who insisted that she gone with Green to keep an eye on him, was sitting in between him and Lance in a three person seat. The whole few hours journey was full of Leaf's chattering about the new region as both trainers on either side of her groaned mentally. Both male made a silent truce while trying to distract the talking machine onto other passenger onboard. There were several faces across from them as Green saw few gym leaders from other towns. When the dragon master informed him that all the other gym leaders were also heading for the tournament, Green could not help but wonder what kind of grand charity event was it.

But no matter, the Pallet trainer would look forward to the matches against the other leaders. It had been a while since his last rematches against them.

The moment the ship docked, Leaf dragged Green all over the place for sightseeing as well as shopping for souvenirs. Green for once did not mind being tangled in Leaf's plan as Unova had lots of interesting place and item to see. Truthfully, the brown haired gym leader's own excitement was spiked and time flew. In a blink of an eye, he was now standing behind the overly bright stage as the host announced his resume to the guests in the dome. Cheers were loud when he strolled forward to the battle square and waved to the crowd with a smirk, and also as an Oak, he had to maintain his image.

Due to his own arrogance, Green did not check up the tournament list and he could only guessed that his opponent would be some gym leader from his hometown. That was his biggest mistake he made that could avoid the shock he was about to feel. The host's voice was now a background noise to his ears as Green stared at the opposite side of the battle square.

"… The legendary trainer, Red!"

The raven stood silently as the crowd cheered madly. The red cladded trainer was moving his pale finger around a small device before pocketing it. Green felt a small vibration the moment Red smiled lightly like _that time_. Taking out the irritating vibrating object in his pocket, it was his Pokegear. There was a new text message and the owner of the said device now knew that Red was using his own Pokegear to text Green just a few minutes ago. Leaving his sight on the slim figure across from him, he read the message and Green could only grin widely in respond.

_-I will consider if you win, dear Knight.-_

"Well well, let's see about that, Princess."

* * *

(1). Red's HGSS design

Warning/Disclaimer: Do not own. Beta'd by a friend. Crippled grammar.

A/N: I left this as an open ending, whether both of them get together or not, it's all up to your imagination. Thanks for the hits and R&R gently please ;w;!  
ps, Can't help but add in a little of BW2 tidbits. And I wrote this a month ago… And I wasn't satisfied with the last part and had to rewrite it. So here it is~


End file.
